Thursday, July 7, 2016

A giant conservative "safe space": the conservative vision of America, as it should be

Conservatives like to ridicule those liberals who ask for safe spaces or caution about "triggering" people, but the fact of the matter is, conservatives themselves treat

#triggered

America as if it is their own personal "safe space" -- and demand that Americans refrain from triggering them, or else.

And it's not enough to insist on a nation-wide safe space that caters to their every whim. They demand the right to react in whatever over-the-top fashion they choose to if they're triggered -- whether it's devoting countless segments, year after year, to the travesty of people not celebrating a holiday exactly the way they do, or implementing laws that allow people to kill based on their feelings of fearfulness.

In other words, while some liberals may demand safe spaces to segregate themselves from people who frighten them, conservatives ask for "stand your ground" laws, to kill people who frighten them. The liberal "safe space" is one where some groups can talk in private, without feeling frightened; the conservative "safe space" is the one where a person who feels frightened can shoot the person frightening him. With zero responsiblity to even try, you know, leaving before pulling the trigger.

And yeah, there are liberals who can be triggered by things like racism, sexism and rape jokes. Conservatives, though, are triggered by a cashier wishing them happy holidays. You know, because friendly holiday greetings are totally traumatizing if you don't use exactly the right words. Exactly. That one word is the difference between a happy holiday and a triggering, traumatic experience. ("But why should I have to police my language? Why don't you people just get over racism and sexism and sexual assault already?!")

So sometimes liberals are triggered by stories of people being raped, murdered or abused. But conservatives know what's really horrifying -- they're triggered by those scary stories of consenting adults marrying a consenting adult of the same sex. (Ohhh, take me to my Republican safe space ASAP! This is persecution!)

Conservatives are very good at controlling the narrative, painting a picture of their own rugged emotional stability in contrast with the wimpy, wishywashy sensitivity of liberals. But the fact is, they've been demanding an entire nation kowtow to their whims for decades. They've been carving out a nationwide safe space for the delicate sensibilities of Republican voters, and they've worked hard to make sure their efforts to make those "safe spaces", to avoid being "triggered", are backed up either by the billion dollar conservative religious industry and/or the force of law.

So, love them or hate them, the handful of liberal safe spaces and the rise of trigger warnings in liberal media pales in comparison to the demands of the rightwing. Conservatives may pretend otherwise, but they pioneered safe spaces and demands not to be triggered. The only difference is, liberals aimed lower -- they demanded specific spaces on campus instead of, you know, the entire country.